


I'll Make This Feel Like Home

by Theprincesof1d



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Dragons, M/M, Minor Character Death, tiny bit of gore and violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-11
Updated: 2016-03-11
Packaged: 2018-05-26 02:32:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6220216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theprincesof1d/pseuds/Theprincesof1d
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A long time ago, in a land far away a boy fell in love with a girl. But the boy was no ordinary boy; no he was the king of a big and mighty realm in the south. All would have been well if the girl had been as noble as he, but sadly enough, she wasn't. </p>
<p>Tweet-five years later, when the king was old and sick, he received a message without a seal. The message wasn't long. All it said was this; "You have a son. His name is Harry and I promise you that you'll need him when the northern armies come in search for your crown."</p>
<p>A fantasy AU with dragons, a big battle and love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'll Make This Feel Like Home

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to the amazing Loop (salingen on tumblr) for the gorgeous art. Also a big thank you to my beta Jess (oopsandhiforever on tumblr) for helping me make this story so much better. Lastly, thank you to the One Direction Big Bang people for being helpful and working hard on this collection.
> 
> If you want to talk to me, you can find me on tumblr (youroned1rection).

A long time ago, in a land far away a boy fell in love with a girl. But the boy was no ordinary boy; no he was the king of a big and mighty realm in the south. All would have been well if the girl had been as noble as he, but sadly enough, she wasn’t. As their love grew stronger so did his hatred for the rules that forbade him to marry her. When he’d decided to go against the rules and his parents he went to talk to the girl of his dreams, to ask her to marry him and become his queen. When he found her, her eyes were blank and void of any emotion. He asked her what was wrong and she told him that she would leave because she’d found someone else. Trying to hold back his tears he demanded to know if she loved him. With a voice so light it could barely be considered a whisper she said that she never had.

Twenty-five years later, when the king was old and sick, he received a message without a seal. It was quite unusual for sealless messages to arrive at the castle, since most of those who had enough money to send one were important enough to have a seal. The message wasn’t long. All it said was this; “You have a son. His name is Harry and I promise you that you’ll need him when the northern armies come in search for your crown.”

“I still don’t understand why it’s our job to find this “prince”. Like, how do we even know that he’s real? And if he IS real, how are we supposed to find him? There’s got to be hundreds of guys named Harry in this kingdom! Should we just find every single one of them and bring them back to the castle?” His dragon Zafar interrupted Louis’ monologue when the dragon simply sat on him. Not with the dragon’s full weight of course, since that would have immediately killed Louis. The dragon weighed a bit over two ton and had a wingspread of over twenty meters. He was a massive black monster with razor sharp teeth and claws and he looked equally frightening when he was awake or when he was asleep.

“One thing that narrows the Harrys down a bit is the fact that they have to be twenty-five.” Zayn made another unsuccessful attempt at lighting their fire. It would have been easier to let one of the dragons light it instead, but none of the dragons were any good at controlling the amount of fire they actually let loose. The only one of the three dragons that probably could was Zafar and he couldn’t be trusted to not set the whole forest on fire. The dragon was old, a couple of centuries at least, and he had never cared for humans until he’d found Louis. Not that he cared all that much now either, Louis thought sourly. It was always a delicate balance between the things Zafar would agree too and the things that he wouldn’t. One of the things the dragon certainly didn’t tolerate was a whiney Louis. It had been that way since the dragon had found him when he was eight. 

Since Louis couldn’t answer or talk back thanks to the dragon sitting on him, Zayn simply continued trying, and failing, to get the fire going. He still hadn’t managed it when Niall and his dragon Sita came back a few minutes later with their dinner. Niall took one look at Zafar, glanced at Zayn and then immediately started to skin the rabbits he’d killed. Zafar still hadn’t moved from his place sitting on Louis, a position which had to be uncomfortable considering that the dragon had to awkwardly hover over Louis from where he laid on the cold ground. The only way Louis had any idea of what was going on was the fact that he could see from Zafar’s eyes. Normally the dragon didn’t let him use their connection other than to communicate with each other, but on occasions Zafar let Louis into his mind the way both Sita and Fulki (Zayn’s dragon) let Niall and Zayn in.

A connection with a dragon and the ability to use their eyes, wasn’t something that every person had. Few were chosen, and it was always the dragons that decided who should be. It was a gift like no other, since dragons were the deadliest weapon in the world. Nothing could stand against their fire, no one could control them and they were nearly impossible to kill. Kings and queens around the world searched for people with connections to dragons and offered them enormous amounts of money to gain their loyalty. A country's importance depended on the amount of dragons that fought for it. 

“If I let you up now pet, will you stop with your complaining? You were the one who wanted to serve this king, and now you have to deal with the consequences.” Zafar’s voice in his head snapped Louis out of the dragon’s mind and back into his own body.

“You really need to stop blaming me for that, you know there isn’t a place in the world where you and I could live without having to serve anybody! And anyway, you said it yourself that this king was probably the best we could find. It’s not my fault that he is naive enough to believe every rumor he hears.” Louis grumpily sat up and started to fix his hair when Zafar let him up. The dragon settled next to him and quick as lightning started the small fire that Zayn had built. The dark haired man jumped back in shock when the flames suddenly licked the dry sticks and branches in front of him. Zayn sent Zafar a glare and went to fetch things they’d need for cooking the rabbits. Louis had been banned from all cooking after that one time he accidentally let their dinner fall down in the fire and burn. Louis wasn’t really bothered since it meant he had time to do other things, like finding the least uncomfortable place to sleep and grab the first plate of food.

As darkness settled around them, Niall started to hand out bowls with stew. The dragons were lying around their little campsite in a circle and protected them from anything that could live in the woods.

Liam wasn’t really sure if he should try to get close to the three dragon riders now or wait for morning. It would be easier to get close to them and hide their weapons during the night since they’d be sleeping, convinced that their dragons would protect them from danger, but it would also mean that he’d have to deal with three of the most dangerous men in the kingdom feeling cornered. Still weighing the pros and cons in his head, Liam didn’t notice that the big black dragon moved. 

“You should really pay more attention, little spy. One of these days you’re going to get yourself killed. What’s the point of having the gift if you’re just going to waste it?” Liam nearly jumped five feet in the air when he heard the words and felt a warm breath at the back of his neck. He cursed silently and turned around. Behind him stood the biggest dragon he’d ever seen. Liam gulped and unconsciously moved a step backwards. The dragon chuckled in his head and stared intensely at him with big yellow eyes. 

“I wish no harm on your friend or his companions. I only wish to speak with them about their mission, without them cutting my head off before I get the question out. If you could be so kind and not kill me and maybe tell the other two, since you are obviously in charge, the same thing I would be forever grateful. You would be doing me a big favor you see. I beg you, please help me!” Liam used his best puppy eyes, the big innocent ones that showed naivety and helplessness. Dragons were selfish creatures who loved attention and praise. Liam had learned that the easiest way to not get killed by dragons was to just compliment them until you lost your breath.

“That little trick doesn’t work on me, little spy. Do you know how many humans that have tried that on me? Do you want to guess how many of those are still alive? I’m one of the oldest dragons that lives today, so you better guess carefully.” If dragons could smirk, Liam was pretty sure this one would be doing just that. The dragon seemed to like playing with him, to hear how his heartbeat speed up when fear stuck its claws in him. Liam was not used to dragons like this one. He had meet many in his life, but they had all been young and full of themselves. Not like this one, who had an aura of power swirling around him. 

Liam had grown up as the only son of a farmer not far from their current position. He had always liked adventure and as he was growing up he had had a feeling like he didn’t belong. Like he wasn’t supposed to just harvest and plant seeds and barely survive during winters. So when he was old enough to take care of himself, he left his family and his village to search for adventures. He managed to get a job on a ship and proceeded to travel around the world. He met greedy men and beautiful women. As he traveled he learned how to swing a sword and how to steal. He learned how to lie and trick people into believing that he was nothing but innocent. He became an excellent thief and earned his money by letting people hire him to steal things they wanted. It was all the adventure he’d dreamed of as a little boy. 

He hadn’t exactly planned on returning to the kingdom where he was born. He’d never liked the weather and he didn’t really want to meet his family. He was fairly sure his mother wouldn’t be proud of what he had become. But after a mistake of sorts in the kingdom next to this, he had had to run. He had ended up in one of the smallest villages he had ever seen, with just a few houses and not even a tavern. A kind woman had taken him in, and in exchange for food and somewhere to sleep, he had helped her and her son with their chores. Anne and Harry were lovely people whom Liam had really liked. It felt like forever ago since he had met people he had actually liked and not just tolerated for his job sake. He had stayed with them for nearly three months and had gotten extremely close to Harry. If it had been long since Liam met kind and nice people, it had been even longer since he had had someone he considered a friend. Liam obviously didn’t tell Harry about his past or the truth of why he had come to their village. Instead he’d feed him a lie about not finding work at home and wanting to see more of the world. 

Liam had quickly realised that Anne was hiding something, after all he was an expert in lying and therefore had a good eye for spotting anyone else who did the same. At first Liam thought that Anne was just wary of him and had worked hard to make her trust him. It worked perfectly and soon Liam understood that it wasn’t just him Anne had hid secrets from but she also hid them from Harry. Since Liam was a curious soul, and used secrets as weapons just as much as his sword and his knives, he decided to find out what it was that she hid.

While Anne knew every single person in the village, how could she not there only lived a handful of persons there, but there were one woman she was closer to than anyone else. The woman's name was Alice and she looked like no other woman Liam had ever met. He had seen many beautiful women, both young and old, but he had never encountered a woman who had an aura of power. It reminded him of the auras that all dragons had,the one who spoke of immense power and death. It made him uneasy, and from the moment he had met her he hadn’t trusted her. She looked like she wasn’t a day over twenty and at the same time, like she had lived for a hundred years. Liam figured that if anyone knew Anne’s secret it would be her. He realised quite quickly that his usual charm didn’t work on her, which was infuriating. He had become used to being able to charm anybody. To find out more about Anne and Alice, Liam talked and charmed the other residents in the village when Harry wasn’t around. Harry was more useful with the animals than with any objects used for harvesting because of his awful clumsiness. So while Harry was off feeding the chickens, Liam talked about his family with the men out in the fields. He learned that Anne and Alice had come wandering into the village around twenty-five years ago and that Harry had been born quickly after they had moved in. Nobody knew for sure who his father was, but in the beginning both Anne and Alice had worn beautiful clothes made of silk. The opinion of most people in the village seemed to be that Harry’s father was a noble man and Anne had been his mistress. 

After nearly a month of spying on both Anne and Alice, and steadily getting closer to Harry, Liam finally learned Anne’s secret. He had been helping Anne repair the roof, it had started to leak during the latest rainstorm, while Alice and Anne had been in the kitchen baking. Their voices begun to get steadily louder and after only a few minutes Liam could hear them clearly. Their argument seemed to be about Harry’s father, and Liam immediately leaned closer to the roof to hear better. 

“It is time to tell him Anne.” Alice melodious voice sounded from below. The sound of dough harshly hitting wood increased and Liam could picture Anne’s frowning face. Harry had inherited almost every expression Anne had, and his frowning face was something Liam had seen a great deal of when he’d told Harry what he could about his past.

“He doesn’t need to know, he’s perfectly happy as it is!” More sounds of dough hitting wood.

“Anne, you are being foolish. Harry is a grown man and he deserves to know who he is. You know that he has not got long left and the rumors about the northern armies will soon not be just rumors. Harry is the only one who can help him.” Alice voice had grown quieter again.

The kneading of dough stopped and Liam could hear someone let out a long sigh. He lay almost completely pressed against the roof and if someone were to come walking along the street Liam would have a hard time explaining himself.

“You know we can’t let Harry near him! And besides, Harry can’t fight. If we told him he would want to help and then we would be sending him towards his own death! I’m sorry, but I’m not gonna risk either of them, they mean too much to me.” Anne’s voice sounded suspiciously choked, even through the thick logs that made up the roof of Anne’s small cottage. Liam couldn’t really grasp everything that they were saying. He would need time to himself to figure out what it all meant. 

“Do you honestly want someone other than Harry to have the crown when he dies?” The rest of Alice's sentence was drowned out by the loud rushing in Liam’s ears. Suddenly everything was crystal clear. Harry’s mystery father was the king, which meant that Harry was the kingdom’s only heir. Liam went a bit dizzy thinking about it all, he became so dizzy in fact that everything sort of blacked out.

When he woke up again, he was lying on the ground with Alice’s face hovering a couple inches from his own face. She was staring intensely at him, and Liam thought that she had to know that he had heard everything she and Anne had been talking about. Just the thought of her reaction had fear spreading through his body. While Liam often pretended to be tough and fearless, the truth was that he wasn’t. Far from it in fact, he was often scared and sometimes immobilized with fear. Over the years however, he had learned to control his body’s reactions. Now he was a pretty skilled actor with a blank face that fooled mostly everybody. Apparently it didn’t fool Alice, because the left side of her mouth twitched slightly upwards and her eyes softened slightly. 

“You do not need to fear me Liam, I promise you I am not going to hurt you.” When she saw his expression, a small smile blossomed on her lovely face. “It does not matter what you have heard, no harm will come your way.”

“Is Harry’s father really the king?” Liam couldn’t help but ask. Alice smile disappeared, but her eyes remained kind and open. She gave a small nod.

“Come talk to me tonight. I will explain everything and answer all your questions, if you promise me that you will do me a favor in return.” Alice turned serious in an instant. “If you do not help me, I am afraid that you will have to leave this village.” Her words left no room for argument and even though her threat didn’t seem so scary, Liam wasn’t sure he wanted to know what would happen to him if he didn’t help her. Besides, what could she ask for? He doubted it would be worse than some of the things he had already done. Even though she was scary and probably dangerous under the calm exterior, she wasn’t mean and Liam seriously doubted that she would want to hurt another person. 

Now here Liam was, facing a dragon with the only people who could help him just a few feet away. He usually wasn’t so distracted. He made a plan and then acted upon it. He didn’t just stumble around and pray that he would survive. This time however, he had only managed to form half a plan and then suddenly there they were. He knew he had no chance of getting to Harry’s village before them, after all, they had dragons who could definitely fly faster than he could run. For him it was over a day’s walk through thick forests but for the dragons it was only a couple of hours straight forward.

“What is it that you need to talk about with my pet?” The dragon’s voice once again snapped Liam out of his thoughts. For a dragon it seemed to be strangely curious and less self absorbed than most. Liam guessed that the one the dragon referred to as pet was his rider. Liam didn’t know what he felt about that.

“I can help you with your mission. I know where you can find the prince.”

Louis continued to stare at the boy in front of him. Or, not boy exactly, more like a man. A young man, maybe even younger than Louis himself. A quite attractive man, if Louis was honest with himself. Zayn certainly seemed to think so, if his gaping mouth and wide eyes were anything to go after. And sure, big brown eyes, light curly hair and wide shoulders with big biceps were all good. More than good even. But… He really wasn’t Louis type. Not that Louis actually had a type, except for the fact that he liked men. But never since he had had his big revolution had he had a type in mind. It had always been a faceless person with the basic genitals of a man. A small cough from the manboy in question saved Louis from his own thoughts.

“So you know where the missing prince is?” Louis asked. He still had a hard time believing it. Just a few days ago the king didn’t even know he had a missing son, but this person knew where to find him? How long had he known for, and why hadn’t he come and seen the king? Maybe because he didn’t think anybody would believe him, Louis’ brain supplied. Or maybe because this is all fake and he has just heard rumors about our mission and decided to see if he could get anything out of it, the more sinister part of Louis brain suggested. Probably the latter.

“I do. I can show you, the village isn’t really easy to find.” The boy, Louis really needed a name, smiled timidly.

“That would be really helpful for us, thank you!” Zayn looked like an eager puppy. It wasn’t a common look on him. Usually he looks brooding and mysterious to keep up the reputation that the dragon riders have. In reality, Zayn was rather snuggly and soft and not at all like the heartless monsters most of the common folk think they were. Still, the image is helpful when they have to interrogate suspects. Zayn was too trusting and should take this more seriously. This nameless man could be dangerous and now Zayn has just decided, without asking anybody else, that of course he should tell him just how lost they really are.

“We have to discuss for a bit. Zafar please keep an eye on him.” Louis turned and beckoned Niall and Zayn to follow him, which they did even though Zayn took a little longer than usual. He seemed utterly besotted with the fellow already and they didn’t even know his name. Louis really hadn’t realised the width of Zayn’s romantic heart. 

“We need his help.” Even as Zayn said it he kept trying to subtly look over his shoulder and give the newcomer a smile.

“We kind of do.” Louis glared at Niall. The blonde should be on his side of this. The worst part wasn’t Niall’s betrayal though, the worst part was that Louis knew that Niall and Zayn were right. They needed help if they wanted to find this prince. Since their plan has just consisted of finding the most northern villages and then go from there, they could be out looking for the prince for months, maybe even a year before finding him. If they’d find him at all. 

“If it turns out that he doesn’t know where the prince is or that he’s dangerous, we could easily take him. You know that Louis.” Well when Niall put it like that, it’s hard to argue. Of course they could take out one man. It’s kind of their job anyway. Still, Louis was cautious. He really didn’t like new people. He’s learned the hard way that keeping to yourself and not trusting anyone is the safest, and smartest, option. 

“If we take him, what do we do with him? Kill him?” The last part is loud enough for the stranger to hear if he’s trying to listen in to their conversation. His small flinch while Louis carefully watches is an answer in itself. His reaction is nothing compared to Zayn’s though. Apparently Zayn seems to think that he’s met his soulmate, if the horrified look on his face after hearing Louis’ question is anything to go by.

“Killing him seems a bit harsh, don’t you think? We could just dump him in some remote city with a prison cell and deal with him later.” Niall shrugged.

They discussed for a few more minutes, with Zayn insisting that the stranger needed to come with them and Louis protesting. Niall agreed mostly with Zayn and eventually just left them to argue by themselves while he went and talked to the newcomer.

In the end, the stranger does come with them to show the way. Apparently he’s called Liam and knows the prince personally. Liam also tells them that the prince, or Harry as Liam insists on calling him, has absolutely no idea that he’s the prince. According to Liam, Harry doesn’t know much about his father, not even his name. A bit harsh of Harry’s mother, Louis can’t help but think. Even though his own father didn’t care at all about him and his mother, at least Louis knew his name. Not that it made him any happier. Maybe Harry’s mother had the right idea.

Liam was riding with Zayn on Fulki. It was probably the easiest choice their group had made that day. Both because Zayn had a crush the size of the moon after only knowing Liam for two minutes, and because Fulki was the biggest dragon after Zafar. As a rule Zafar refused to let anyone who didn’t get the gift by him, up on his back. Since Louis, for some reason that only Zafar knew, was the only one who had gotten the gift by the black dragon, Louis was the only human who got to ride Zafar. 

They flew until the sun reached midday and then Louis suddenly spotted a few houses below them. To call it a village seemed a bit optimistic, since all in all there only was about seven houses. Even the houses didn’t really qualify as houses. Cottages seemed to be more appropriate. It actually reminded Louis of his own childhood village. As usual the reminders of his family and former life, brought aches of pain through his whole body. He gasped and leaned forward to grip more tightly onto Zafar’s neck while images of bloodstained men with enormous swords and his mother’s lifeless eyes danced behind his eyes. Zafar saved him, like so many many times before, by letting Louis into his mind.

Everything became much sharper and the cottages several hundred feet below them came into focus. Louis could see two people leading a couple of cows toward something that might represent a barn, and another person just outside a house with a small child on her hip. The thoughts and memories disappeared and emotions became things that he couldn’t quite feel.

“Thank you.” 

“You shouldn’t let those things affect you anymore pet. You’re strong now, and nothing like those men can hurt you.” Zafar dived along with Fulki and Sita down towards the cottages. Distantly Louis registered that Liam must have pointed out this mini village as the place where the prince lived. Louis clung onto Zafar and enjoyed the feeling of falling.

When they landed Liam immediately jumped off of the red dragon’s back. During the whole time they’d been in the air, he had been terrified. He’d never before in his life flew with a dragon, and it wasn’t an experience he wished to repeat. The ground had been too far away and the wind too strong. Liam had sailed across oceans and lived through several storms and yet none of them had compared to the strength of the wind that tried to knock him down from the dragon as it flew. Fearing for his life, Liam had clung to the only thing close to him which happened to be the boy who the dragon belonged too. The young man had introduced himself as Zayn and the dragon as Fulki. He had kept on talking about the dragon, telling Liam all about where it was from and how some detail on the wings made it fly without making a sound. Liam hadn’t been listening very closely, even though he normally loved hearing about dragons and what made them special. 

Being back on solid ground felt very liberating and freeing and Liam took a couple of deep breaths. As he calmed down, thoughts about what he needed to do now came creeping into his head. Alice had told him that the easiest way of getting Harry out of the village was to kidnap him. At first Liam had thought that it seemed a bit extreme, and to be honest he still did, but Alice had made Liam promise not to tell Harry what was going on and just take him as far away as possible before anyone would notice that he was missing. Liam wasn’t sure how the other three would react when he told him that they should kidnap the prince. They did work for the king after all, and Liam was pretty sure that you didn’t kidnap royalty if you wanted to help them. Kidnapping was more of a way of declaring war. Still, they were probably reasonable people and would surely understand his point. Well, hopefully they would.

“You want to kidnap the prince?!” Zayn’s voice was reaching decibels too high for human ears to hear. If Liam was honest with himself, which he tried to be as much as possible, he was surprised that it was Zayn who was freaking out. Liam had sort of thought it would be Louis, simply because he seemed to be the most dramatic one in the group. Liam didn’t think he had misjudged him, he had become pretty good at reading people over the years, but maybe he had jumped to wrong conclusions. Sure Louis was dramatic, but he didn’t seem to have any problems with breaking a few rules. Liam sort of liked that in a person since it was usually an indicator for good intuition. Niall had sort of shrugged when Liam told them about the kidnapping thing. Liam got the impression that it was Niall’s attitude to most things. It could be a good thing if it was combined with a smart brain and Liam hoped it was. The three dragon riders would soon realise that Harry may be a prince by blood, but nowhere close to one in real life. Before he was ready for a life at court and leader of the kingdom’s army he had a lot to learn. Like a lot, a lot. There was no way he would have learned nearly enough by the time that they reached the castle and the capital, but hopefully Harry would have at least learned to swing a sword before the northern army came.

“No I don’t want to kidnap the prince, but we need to kidnap him if we want to get him to leave this place. Apparently his mother has told him lies about his father, so now he kind of hates him.” Liam shrugged. When he had lived with Harry and Anne he hadn’t really asked much about Harry’s father, mostly because nobody seemed to know anything. The one time he had asked about the mysterious man at dinner, Anne’s face had immediately hardened and Harry’s features had darkened. Liam hadn’t recognised either one of them and had frankly been to scared to ask again. He had learned his lesson about asking questions that people didn’t want to answer a long time ago. The only times he did ask, was when he desperately needed the answers. 

“How do you know all this? Are you working for someone?” Louis fired away his questions in quick succession and took small, threatening steps towards him. Liam could see why the king wanted to have Louis on his side. Not only was his dragon truly terrifying and like something out of a horrible nightmare, but Louis himself was quite intimidating when he wanted to be. Even though he was on the small side and looked a bit like a pixie.

“I don’t work for anybody but myself. I’m just doing a friend a favour.”

“You’re doing a favour? To a friend? What kind of friend ask you to kidnap someone? Especially if that someone is the prince? Zayn looked incredulous and his lovely brown eyes were very wide. Niall looked a bit shocked as well while Louis had his eyes squinted shut a bit and mostly looked calculating. Liam didn’t really have a good answer to that. The easiest way of explaining would be to take them to Alice and let her tell them everything that she had told him. Of course she had explicitly told him not to linger and not take anyone to see her. 

“She can see the future.” It’s the simplest, and fastest, way he could think of to explain it all. The silence that follows is nearly deafening. All three dragon riders were staring at him with varying degrees of shock written on their faces. It reminded Liam of what he himself probably looked like when Alice told him the same thing.

“Come on now, we don’t have much time!” Still in shock, the three of them just followed him without saying a word. Soon they were sneaking through the only road in the village and going towards the field behind the few houses in the village. Liam seriously hoped that Harry would be with the sheep. They had been in the middle of cutting of the sheep’s wool when Liam had left. Hopefully Harry hadn’t finished.

It had been surprisingly easy to kidnap the prince. Louis wasn’t used to kidnaping people nor was Niall and Zayn, but Liam really was. It made Louis wonder what Liam had been up to in the past. He had no dragon, but he had the gift. He knew the best way to kidnap someone, but had apparently worked in the village with Harry for a couple of months. It didn’t make sense and Louis was a bit weary of him. He seemed to be the only one though. Scandalised or not, there could be no mistaking of the awe and wonder in Zayn’s eyes when Liam had explained his plan to them. Even Niall had looked impressed. The plan had been simple; make sure no one sees you, let Liam knock the prince in the head, put a bag over the prince’s head and then get away from the sheeps and back to the dragons. They had been quick and Louis had learned that the prince must be really light, or Liam extremely strong, because when Niall had offered to help carrying the unconscious man Liam had merely shrugged.

Now they were back with the dragons a couple kilometers from the village. Sita and Fulki were looking curiously at the peacefully sleeping prince while Zafar completely ignored him. Nothing out of the ordinary there. Zafar never really showed interest in anything except for his food and, on rare occasions, Louis’ feelings. 

If Louis had thought Liam had been attractive the first time he saw him, it was nothing compared to what he found prince Harry to be. The prince had long, wavy brown hair and very, very green eyes. He was without doubt the most lovely human Louis had ever seen, and that was saying something since he was living with Zayn, who was the definition of perfect. 

The prince woke up just a few minutes after they reached the dragons and he was now staring warily at all of them. When his eyes landed on Liam they shone with recognition and then immense confusion.

“Liam what are you doing? Who are these people? Why did you leave me and mom?” His voice was quite low and gravely and sent small shivers down Louis’ spine. He stood up from the ground and now Louis really noticed how tall he actually was.

“This is Louis, Niall and Zayn and their dragons and they work for the king.” Harry just looked even more confused.

“So what do you want from me then?” When the prince locked eyes with Louis for the first time everything around him got unfocused and warmth spread through his body. This was just Louis’ luck, honestly. The first time he feels real attraction to someone, that someone is the bloody prince. Not for the first time Louis wondered if destiny or fate or whatever controlled people’s lives, was laughing their heads off when creating his. Maybe someone of his ancestors did something terrible that he was now paying for. Most of Louis life has been crap, and the only one he feels completely comfortable with is Zafar. It’s sad, but true. After his family was killed and Zafar found him, Louis just sort of stopped trusting people. Niall and Zayn were the closest to family he had apart from Zafar. Not that he had shared that much of his life with them, but still. He trusted them more than he had ever expected to do.

“You are the prince and the king needs you to fight against the northern army when it comes.” Louis whipped his head around and stared at Liam in complete shock. That really wasn’t the smoothest way of telling someone that their whole life was basically a lie. Prince Harry’s eyes were very, very wide and disbelieving. 

“I’m not a prince.” Louis probably would’ve reacted the same way. Liam had told them that Harry had no idea who his father actually was. Apparently his mother had lied to him and told him that his father was a rich farmer who had left her when she became pregnant. 

It took Liam nearly fifteen minutes to convince Harry that he really was the prince and that it wasn’t something Liam had made up. Louis, Niall and Zayn had left them to themselves. Since none of them had met Harry before, it made no sense for them to try and convince him of anything. It wasn’t like Liam had known Harry long, two months Louis was pretty sure Liam had said, but still. 

When the two of them came back, prince Harry’s eyes were slightly wet. Understandable, but it still made Louis feel a bit like crying too. People as beautiful as Harry should never cry. It was quickly established that Harry was joining them to go back to the castle to meet the king. The problem with transportation became apparent once again. Harry had to fly with either Sita or Zafar, since Fulki already had to carry both Zayn and Liam. Louis was already on his way back towards Zafar, thinking that the prince had no other option than to fly with Niall. He stopped dead in his tracks however when Zafar’s thoughts hit him.

“He’ll ride with us.” 

Louis jaw actually dropped wide open when Zafar declared that it was okay for Harry to ride on him with Louis. It apparently surprised the others too by the wide eyed expression Niall was sporting and the shock clearly written all over Zayn’s face. Zafar had never let a human other than Louis near him, and he had lived for over five hundred years. The feelings swirling around Louis’ gut could be described as jealousy and betrayal but also a big amount of hurt. Zafar was the only being in this world that Louis still whole heartedly trusted, the only one he thought would always have his back. The memories Louis usually carefully locked away were slowly invading his mind and drowning him in sensations and unpleasant feelings. His own mind was turning against him and swallowing him up piece by piece.

“Stop it pet. You know I’m not going to leave you. Push it back and come back to the now. I’ve told you about my intuition. It was what lead me to you.” Zafar’s voice was getting steadily higher and more prominent. It made it easier to focus on than the hurtful memories. The more Louis concentrated on Zafar’s words, the less he felt like drowning in images that he would rather forget. It took him a few more moments but soon enough Louis was ready to let reality back in. He slowly opened his eyes to find the other four staring at him. Zafar was a calming presence in the back of his mind.

“Have you ever flown on a dragon before?” The prince’s eyes snapped up to his and he shook his head. ”I’m guessing you’ve never seen a dragon either?” Louis was surprised how steady his own voice was. It was a little raspier than usual but it wasn’t so noticeable. Once again the prince shook his head no.

“It’s not difficult. First you get permission from the dragon you’re supposed to be riding on that it’s okay for you to climb up on their back. After that the dragon helps you out since you can’t really climb up a dragon’s back. Then you strap yourself in and hold onto the person in front of you. You also don’t try to talk while you’re flying as it’s nearly impossible to hear over the wind. Your highness.” Louis added the last part after a glance in Zayn’s direction showed a slightly frowning face. The prince’s face had concentration written all over it and he’d been nodding along throughout Louis’ little monologue as if he was committing it all to memory.

“You don’t have to call me your highness you know. A letter, even if it’s from Alice, isn’t really going to convince me that I’m the prince. At least not until I’ve talked to the king. If he really is my father then I’ll know as soon as I’ve spoken to him.” The curly haired lad’s eyes were earnest and showed that he completely believed everything he had just said. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that this kid never had been taught to lie. It was sweet in a way, how bright and shiny his world must seem whilst Louis’ own was quite gloomy and scary. It was a long time ago that Louis had completely believed what someone said to him. Over the years he had learned that nearly everyone had a purpose whenever they spoke and that most of the time it wasn’t the same as what they said it was. People had secret agendas and generally told people what they wanted to hear, all to make sure that their purpose got fulfilled. 

It went surprisingly fast to get everyone situated on the three dragons. The prince had his arms tightly wrapped around Louis’ middle and he squealed right loudly when Zafar took off from the ground. It felt nice to have someone's arms wrapped around him Louis couldn’t help but think. It was so long ago since he had had any real human contact. Harry was breathing in his ear and squeezed tighter every time Zafar’s position changed slightly in the air. Louis’ back that usually was cold while flying, was now warm. It was all very disorientating and it made Louis’ head hurt to think about it. It was easier to flee into Zafar’s mind and thoughts than deal with his own. It was Louis’ safe place, the one he always went back to whenever he couldn’t deal with his head or the situation at hand. It wasn’t the best of coping mechanisms, but since he was still alive after using it for over ten years Louis didn’t think he needed to stop. 

“Feeling scared again pet?” If thoughts could be mocking, this one was. Zafar had never been very fond of Louis escaping his thoughts. He wanted Louis to deal with his emotions and feelings and analyze his own thoughts. Apparently he found Louis’ way of hiding it all away in the back of his mind unhealthy. He was a big hypocrite though, since every time Louis tried to talk about his feelings with him, he refused to answer. Especially since Louis had met Niall and Zayn. According to Zafar, Louis needed to open up to them. Louis had successfully ignored that advice and continued with his own plan of ignoring everything that required more thought than he was willing to give it. 

“No, just let me be.” Thankfully Zafar kept quiet and they continued to fly south towards the castle that Louis still couldn’t think of as home, even though he had lived there for years. Harry was still a warm presence against his back and his mind full of the landscape through Zafar’s eyes. Niall and Sita were flying just behind them and Zayn, Liam and Fulki around twenty feet below them. For a couple of hours all Louis could do was hold on until they reached the capital, where the king surely wanted to meet at least Harry. Zafar’s silent thoughts made Louis’ own panic and anxiety simmer below the surface, just out of reach. 

The castle was like nothing Liam had ever seen before. Even though he had traveled all over the world, he’d never actually seen a castle up close. Sure he had been just outside the gates, peering in and trying to get a look at the people living there. This was the first castle he had ever been inside of and he was honestly a bit in awe. Like most castles around the world, this one was big and built in stone. The wall surrounding the castle only had one entrance, a big gate made of oak and an iron gate behind it. The iron gate was currently raised, since it was the middle of the day, but the gate in itself was closed. Only a small door in the gate was open with two guards on either side of the wall guarding it from intruders. To get to the entrance of the actual castle, you had to walk up a marble staircase as wide as the cottage Liam grew up in. Liam tried to be subtle about his curiosity and how he was trying to take it all in. Harry on the other hand didn’t even try to hide his excitement and he even spun around in circles to watch everything. Niall and Louis were walking towards the giant staircase without looking at everything around them, probably because they were used to it. Louis did sneak glances back at Harry though with a small smile lurking around the corners of his eyes. Zayn was waiting for Liam to catch up to him and together they walked slowly towards the stairs.

“It’s a bit scary, right? The size and everything? And just the fact that this is where the king lives?” Zayn looked at Liam with earnest eyes and a hesitant smile. He really was too cute and Liam maybe wanted to kiss him a bit. Liam had never been any good at denying himself things that he wanted. This somehow felt a bit different from the other times when he had wanted to kiss someone he found pretty. Liam didn’t know why and he wasn’t about to question it. Feelings beyond lust and attraction was dangerous and was best to be avoided.

“A little bit yeah.” Liam shrugged and looked up at the sky to try and see how high the castle reached. “Have you met the king before?” He asked when he looked back down. Zayn shook his head quickly and then explained that they weren’t important enough to get an audience with the king himself but instead got their orders from the highest ranked officer.

“But you must be quite important if the king trusts you enough to search for his only child.” Liam was a bit surprised to be honest. He had thought that the three dragon riders had a high status at the court, simply because of the fact that they had the gift and their mission was to find the missing prince. It seemed that that had been a bit naive of him. 

“I don’t think the king actually believed what it said in the letter he got, but it had to be investigated you know? Just because of the small chance that it was real.” Zayn shrugged as they started to climb the stairs after Niall, Louis and Harry.

“Turned out to be true though! Who would’ve thought?” Liam said.

Before Zayn could answer they had reached the top of the stairs. The other three were standing there waiting for them. Together they walked towards the big doors leading into the castle. Beside the door, two guards were standing on watch. Both were big and mean looking and wore the kingdom’s emblem on their armor, a flying hawk. Liam had never seen it before because none of the dragon riders wore it. When the five of them approached, the guards immediately straightened up.

“Who are you and what do you want?”

“We need to see the king.” Louis replied. The eyebrows on the guard who spoke disappeared nearly into his hairline. Liam could, on some level, understand him. Harry and himself didn’t exactly look like people who got audiences with the king, what with their ratty clothes and somewhat unkempt hair. Neither Niall, Louis or Zayn looked particularly important and deserving of the king’s time. Liam didn’t really know how they usually dressed when they were here, for all he knew they wore clothes made of silk at a daily basis. At the moment though, and as long as Liam had known them, they had worn clothes similar to Harry’s and his own. The only differences had been the cleanliness and the amount of repairs that had been made. 

“I still need to know who you are.” The guard still looked extremely skeptical. 

“My name is Louis Tomlinson and this is Niall Horan and Zayn Mailk.” Louis pointed towards the other two. Liam hoped that it would mean something to the guards, but based by the look on the guard’s face, it didn’t. Liam started to understand what Zayn had talked about them not exactly being important at court. If they had been, the guard probably would have recognised them. If not by face, then at least by name. At that moment a third guard came out of the big doors. He took a look at Louis and something like recognition shone in his eyes. 

“You’re Louis Tomlinson, right? The one who went out looking for the prince?” Louis nodded quickly and stood up a bit straighter. The other two guards looked skeptically between Louis and the new guard. “I’ll alert the king that you have returned. Do you have the prince with you?” 

“I do.” Louis subtly cocked his head in Harry’s direction. The heads of all three guards turned in that way. It wasn’t subtle in the slightest. Harry didn’t notice the staring since he was still busy with looking all around him and trying to take it all in.

“Let me show you to your chambers Your Highness.” One of the guards said, Liam couldn’t remember if he was the one who had just come out or if it was one of the others. Either way they were all led into the castle and Harry was whisked away by one of the guards towards the biggest stairs Liam had ever seen. The rest of them had to wait just inside the big door. 

Liam wasn’t sure how long they waited. Maybe an hour, perhaps two. Eventually Harry walked back down the stairs with a man by his side. The man was in his late thirties and wore tight pants and a green tunic emblazoned with the king’s flying hawk. He mentioned for them to follow him and started to lead the way down a corridor to their left. The walls of the corridor were full of big, imposing portraits of former kings. Liam quickened his steps to get away from them, it felt like they were looking down on him. They stopped just outside a double door at the end of the corridor. The man in the tunic turned around and looked at them a bit disdainfully.

“Do remember your manners, please. This is after all the king you’re meeting.” He said and turned to open the doors. Liam couldn’t help but bristle a bit at his tone. He was aware that he was in the company of the prince surely? Plus it didn’t sit right with him for this man to talk like that to Zayn and the other two. Maybe they weren’t the most important persons in this castle, but that didn’t mean that he could talk to them in that way! He didn’t have the time to say anything however, because the doors were now open and Liam could see the king sitting on his throne inside the room before them. 

The king wasn’t as impressive as Louis had thought. In his mind Louis had made up the king to be tall and built with eyes full of wisdom. After he had met Harry, more details had been added to the king’s features by Louis. Suddenly his eyes were the same shade of forest green as Harry’s and his greying hair had traces of dark brown in it. In reality though, the most impressive thing about the king was the room he was sitting in. The room was big and the ceiling high. Zafar would’ve probably fit in it without any problems. There were several big windows covering one of the walls, all made of real glass. The ceiling had paintings of hunts and parties covering every inch and the remaining walls had been covered by tapestries with similar motives. Even the throne that the king was sat on was more impressive than the king himself. It was made of solid oak and was carved with utmost precision. The whole room showed just how important, and rich, the king truly was. Louis was no longer a stranger to the castle, he did live there after all, but even he wasn’t used to this kind of luxury. The quarters where he and Zayn and Niall lived were far nicer than anything Louis had had while growing up, but they were still a far cry from the actual nice rooms that the important people in the castle lived in.

The king looked small where he was sat in his throne at the back of the big room. In his youth he’d probably been tall but sickness and his age settling in had made him shrink down, making him smaller than he actually was. His hair was grey, as was his beard. Both were slightly longer than Louis had imagined. He wasn’t close enough to see what colour his eyes were.

As soon as the door closed behind them, Zayn and Niall lowered down on one knee with their heads bowed. Harry looked a bit shell shocked while Liam mostly looked a bit bored. Louis quirked his eyebrows at them and got an eyeroll in answer from Liam. Harry had shifted his attention towards the king and was staring at him with a curious expression on his face. There was a bit of fear and apprehension lurking in the corner of his eyes. Louis gently nudged him in the side with his elbow and kneeled. He could see Harry and Liam beside him and Zayn and Niall on his other side. All of them had their heads lowered in respect but Louis could see Harry sneaking glances from under his fringe. There was a slight rustling of clothes and then light footfalls coming towards them. A pair of expensive boots stopped a few feet from them. They were shiny and looked new, most likely made off one of the calves slaughtered last year.

“Please rise.” The king said. His voice was melodic, strong and sure. He sounded like a man who was used to people listening and obeying him. His voice didn’t really fit with his appearance. It was as if his body had aged while his voice had remained the same, a memory from the past. Still he sounded like a king. Louis could kind of relate to him. His own voice was the same, it didn’t fit with the rest of him. It was too high and light instead of low and sort of husky. He still sounded like the ten year old boy who lost everything he knew even though now he was a man with blood on his hands and a dragon by his side. The king’s voice reminded him a tiny bit of Harry’s. Something about how it sort of rumbled out of his chest and how it seemed too deep for the person it belonged too. This close up, when Louis really had the chance to study the king’s features, the resemblance between the two men were clear. They had the same eyes and traces of Harry’s brown curls could be found by the king’s temples.

“So you are Harry then. My long lost son. I always sort of knew you existed you know, but I couldn’t be sure. Your mother never told me she was expecting you and she ran away before I could figure it out. But here you are! It’s like I’m looking in a mirror.” The king’s eyes were sparkling a little in the low light coming from the windows. He was looking intensely at Harry with curiosity shining on his face. Harry was staring back at him with his mouth slightly open and his eyes flicking across his father’s face, trying to take it all in at once and finding similarities from his own.

It was clear that they were related. Any doubts Louis might have had disappeared. Father and son had the same nose and the same hairline. Louis hadn’t ever seen Harry’s mother but he was quite sure that she hadn’t given much of her own looks to her son. Harry’s eyes had slowly filled up with tears and he suddenly took a step forward and threw his arms around his father’s fragile body in a bear hug. The guards positioned around the room quickly stepped forward, ready to help their king if needed. The king just raised a hand and waved away their concerns. He doubtfully hugged Harry back. He didn’t seem like a person who got hugged regularly. It probably had something to do with him being king, but it might have been just a personal preference. The king stepped back after another minute.

“Do you know how to fight son?” He asked Harry. 

“Not really. I know how to use a bow and arrow but I haven’t practiced much.” From the appalled looks from the people in the room, including the king himself, Louis wasn’t the only one surprised by Harry’s complete lack of manners. Harry might be the prince and the king his father but that didn’t give him the right to not use the proper titles. There weren’t many who were raised with people who taught them the right title to use on which person, but most people at least had the sense to always use at least sir when speaking to people with a higher social status than yourself. There was a slim possibility that Harry’s mother never had taught him anything about titles and the different classes people could be divided in. The village Harry had grown up in was small and far away. Nobody wealthy enough to deserve a title would ever set their foot near it. Harry’s mother had probably never planned for Harry to leave it and therefore never taught him anything that didn’t involve farming or household duties in some way. 

“You’ll have to train then. First thing tomorrow you’ll start training with my best sword fighter…” The king started to turn around, probably looking for someone to send a message to whoever his best fighter was when Harry shook his head.

“Louis can train me. And Liam, and probably Niall and Zayn as well.” Harry’s smile was a bit blinding. The king stared at him in something like shock along with the rest of them. Harry really didn’t know how to act like a noble man at all. 

“Who are they?” The king asked and looked even more surprised when Harry pointed towards them. “Are you sure you don’t want a more qualified person to train you? I don’t fancy you getting killed you know, you are important to the kingdom. Harry just nodded happily and reassured his father that no, he didn’t want to train with anybody else and that no, he would make sure to not get himself killed.

When they walked out of the throne room a couple of minutes later, Harry immediately led them up the stairs where his chambers apparently were. He stopped at the top of them and smiled at them.

“I’ll see you tomorrow right? I want to go and write a letter to my mother, so she knows where I am. You can come and get me as early as you like.” Then he left them standing there staring a bit wide eyed after him. They relocated to his, Zayn’s and Niall’s room to come up with some kind of training plan since they were now seemingly responsible for Harry’s survival in the coming battle. 

“Have you ever held a sword before?” Harry shook his head and sent his curls flying. “Have you ever seen a sword before?” Harry shook his head once again and a single dimple appeared in his right cheek when he smiled. Louis let out a low sigh of frustration. The northern army didn’t really have all that long way left, maybe a month’s walk at the most, and Louis had to train a complete beginner. To add to his misery his trainee was an unfairly attractive young man that was the definition of untouchable. Louis still wasn’t sure about the details on how he became responsible for Harry’s training, but he thought it had something to do with the real experts having to plan and organise for the upcoming battle and Harry specifically requesting him. That in itself was quite funny since Harry had never seen him fight and he had known Liam for longer. Maybe he still hadn’t quite forgiven Liam for lying about who he was.

“ Stay focused now pet. Your mission is to teach your young king to fight and not to understand how he thinks.” Zafar’s voice flittered through his head and Louis looked up. He had brought Harry to the soldier’s training grounds just outside the city which was practically next door to the small building where the castle’s dragon riders kept their gear. The dragon’s usually slept on the training grounds and stayed close in case something happened. At the moment the king only had three dragon riders living in the castle so Zafar, Fulki and Sita had quite a lot of space to share. Zafar was lying around a hundred feet from where Louis and Harry were standing and the dragon was staring intensely at them.

“I know that Z! And he’s not my king, he’s just the crown prince.” If a thought could sound bitter, his just did. It wasn’t fair that the only person Louis had ever had an interest in was the heir to the kingdom Louis had sworn to serve until he died. Why couldn’t he have met Harry before he joined the king’s army? Then they could’ve been together for a while at least and maybe Harry would have broken the unofficial laws about marrying someone who’s poor and the actual laws about marrying someone of your own sex. Louis was brought out of his sort of daydream by Zafar’s loud snort. Louis startled slightly and met Harry’s amused eyes.

“Are you okay? You sort of disappeared on me there.” Shaking his head to clear it from inappropriate thoughts and wishes, Louis held up his wooden sword to demonstrate how to properly hold it. 

They stayed on the field for several hours while the sun wandered across the sky casting shifting shadows on Harry’s face. They went through the basics, which way was up, the proper grip and some simple defenses. Harry didn’t seem to struggle with the heavy weight of the sword and the way it changed his sense of balance the way Louis had thought it would. Even though Louis hadn’t known him for a long time, only a few day’s really, he’d seen enough to understand that Harry’s balance was kind of terrible. He had seen him stumble more than he’d seen him walk in a straight line. Funnily enough the added weight of the sword seemed to make it easier for him to stay standing. It was the opposite to Louis’ own first experience with a sword. Then again, he hadn’t had a teacher to show him how to actually swing a sword and not just awkwardly try to wave it around. As a general rule though, Louis avoided thinking about those kinds of things since most of them brought back unpleasant memories.

“Good work today. If you practise hard then maybe you’ll actually get to wear a crown one day.” It was kind of pathetic how hard Louis found it to stay impersonal and professional around the prince. His small crush had to be obvious for miles. Harry’s face scrunched up into an adorable pout with his eyebrows lowered, crinkles in his forehead and a down way turn of his mouth.

“Careful or your face will get stuck like that.” Louis couldn’t help but tease and was rewarded with one of Harry’s loud cackling laughs.

“You’re a good teacher Lou.” He brought an arm up to shield his eyes from the sun as they started to walk back towards the castle. “Have you trained anyone before?”

“Shouldn’t you have asked that before you said you wanted me as your teacher?” The banter came naturally and Louis had always been the type of guy to follow his instincts. Plus the unexpected nickname had made something warm and tingly all over his body with a start in his stomach. No one except for Zayn had ever called him Lou and instead of making Louis feel special, which it kind of also did, it made Harry seem even more special than before. All of these feelings made him feel like one of those young ladies in the tales the bard used to tell at the tavern Louis would sometimes visit with his family when they were still alive. It made the warm feeling twist into something dark and uncomfortable when he thought about his family, so Louis quickly locked the memories back in the small box at the back of his mind where they really belonged.

“I had a good feeling about you. Guess I was right.” Harry’s smile was small but genuine and it took Louis a moment too long to remember what they were talking about.

“I guess you were.” Louis mumbled as they walked back into the courtyard of the castle. 

They found the rest of the boys in Louis’ shared living quarters loudly discussing the pros of meat pie. It all seemed a bit bizarre that just a couple of days ago Louis would have walked in here alone to find Zayn quietly rereading one of his beloved books and Niall polishing his sword until it practically sparkled. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t been friends before Liam and Harry showed up, but things had become a bit more open between Louis and his two roommates the past days. Louis had learnt more about Niall and his life before he came to the castle in the past few days than he had the first couple of months that he lived with him. Sad but true. Still, Louis was glad that he got to know his friends better. It felt good. Louis might have missed human interaction and actually talking to someone who cared about his feelings and what he had to say. 

It was all down to Harry, which was the scary bit. Louis was going to get hurt. There was no way that Louis wouldn’t get hurt. At the moment though, Louis liked the warm fluttering feeling he got every time Harry smiled.

It quickly became clear that Harry was a natural at swordfighting. He was quick to grasp the different techniques and soon made up his own. In no time at all he was fighting Louis and giving him quite a match. Even Zayn struggled to keep up with Harry, and he was the only one who had had formal training since he was a kid. Soon enough the only one who could teach Harry new things was Liam and only because he didn’t follow the guidelines that everyone who formally trained learned from their masters. 

“Nobody fights like that in real life. If you want to survive you either harm someone so much that they can’t hurt you or you kill them. It’s as easy as that.” Liam had just shrugged and then showed Harry the best place to hit if you wanted to cut someone’s arm off. 

The five of them spent their days down at the training grounds practising and showing Harry more tricks and defences. They brought lunch with them and bonded over stories of previous trainers, mishaps and, in Liam’s case, real battles that they’d been in. Louis laughed more than he had in a long while and most of the time it was because of Harry. He was charming like no one Louis had ever met and had a dry sense of humor that fitted Louis own. Most of Harry’s stories were about his life with his mum and her best friend Alice. They were hilarious once Harry actually got to the point of the stories. Most of the time he spent minutes talking about details that later on had nothing to do with the plot. Louis found it endearing while the others tried to get him to hurry up and skip the parts that were unimportant. Louis didn’t really offer any stories of his own. The ones he wanted to share were too painful for him to talk about and the ones that weren’t, weren’t really funny. Instead Louis listened to the other four, and especially Harry. Every story he told, Louis tried to commit to memory no matter how silly and pointless they were. His unfortunate crush was only getting bigger and now most of his days were spent thinking about Harry while his nights were spent dreaming about him. It was nice in a way because it kept him from thinking about the army steadily getting closer and the ghosts of his family that didn’t want to leave him alone. The way the five of them had immediately became friends didn’t help his feeling situation either since it meant that Louis didn’t need to keep a distance towards Harry. He could act how he wanted to and talk about everything that came to mind. He could even touch Harry if he felt like it. It was all a bit intoxicating and made Louis forget about the part where Harry was the king to be and Louis was just someone who worked for him. No matter how much Louis liked him, and no matter if Harry maybe actually liked him back, they could never ever be together. Louis wasn’t a girl and he couldn’t even offer him money. All he had to offer was his life and his ability to fight with a dragon. Still, it could be worse. Harry could have hated him. But maybe that had been easier since the quite non existent chance of them ever getting together would have been gone. Instead Harry smiled at Louis like he was the sun and like he had hung the moon. Since Harry was naturally charming and lovely towards anyone he met, Louis wasn’t sure if Harry really liked him liked him or if he just enjoyed his company as a friend. 

Through Harry’s numerous rambling stories Louis had learned that he hadn’t grown up with anyone his age. Everybody had either been grown up or born after him. So maybe his behavior could be explained by his happiness at finally be able to talk to people his own age. The chance of Harry actually having feelings for him was super slim, but it was there. Maybe his big smiles and loud laugh at Louis’ jokes were him flirting. Louis had never been on the receiving end of flirting before and was therefore a bit unsure what it looked like. He himself had never flirted either and so could not find similarities there. The only experience Louis had with flirting were when the guards whistled after the serving girls, but he didn’t really think that counted since the girls mostly looked distressed whenever it happened. The closest thing to real flirting Louis probably ever had seen, was the weird way Zayn acted around Liam. The way that he would blink more than usual and always look up at Liam through his lashes even though Zayn only was a couple of inches smaller. His way of speaking also totally changed if he talked to Liam. His voice got higher and breathier and he often tried to use complicated words to impress him. That didn’t really work since Liam most of the time had never heard the words before and therefore needed them explained before he could answer. The whole thing was a bit silly and the absolute opposite of subtle, but Louis didn’t think that anyone beside him had noticed Zayn’s strange behaviour. Especially not Liam. Even though Louis found it a bit too much and just the tiniest bit annoying, Louis was mostly surprised. Zayn had never shown interest in a guy before now. Either Louis had missed it or Zayn had had the same problem Louis himself had: that he hadn’t found any boys attractive before. It still confused Louis. He had seen Zayn with girls. Not many but a few. Definitely more than he had seen Niall with. Then again, Niall didn’t really seem to be the type to care much for either boys or girls. He liked them in a friendly way but when it came to intimacy and romance he wasn’t all that interested. Louis didn’t even really hear him toss off. No matter how quiet you were, it was still impossible to not let the others know when you jerked off since they all shared a room. The only way you could hide was if you had the room to yourself, which didn’t really happen.

After the first few months of living together the awkwardness had started to wear off and now it was quite an easy thing to ignore. Except for how it had started to become much more frequent now. Louis could admit to be partly guilty for that but Zayn was worse. At least Louis tried not to jerk off more now than he did before Harry entered his life, but it was hard when Harry did arousing things nearly every single day. To Louis’ single horror his tratious dick found almost everything that Harry did arousing. Like how he bit his bottom lip when he was concentrated or how his back looked while he swung a sword over his head. Louis’ default way seemed to be half hard these days and he was lucky that he still only shared a room with Niall and Zayn. Since Harry was the prince he got the nicest guest room as his own while Liam had to use one of the smallest ones. Still, it could have been worse. If Liam had told the king even half of the things he had shared during their lunch breaks he would’ve been sleeping in the cells in the castle’s basement. If Niall and Zayn had noticed that anything had changed about his wanking habits they hadn’t commented on it, for which Louis was eternally grateful. He found it difficult to concentrate on teaching Harry useful things while simultaneously imagining him naked and doing things to him. Luckily enough he wasn’t the one who Harry usually looked to for tips anymore, but that just gave Louis more time to ogle Harry’s sinful body.

“You need to lower your left shoulder a bit more and stop tensing your right wrist when you hit Harry.” Liam took off his helmet and dragged an arm across his sweaty forehead. It was hot outside and the sky was blue without any clouds. Zayn and Niall were lying down in the shadow that Fulki and Sita created where they laid close to the woods. Harry, Liam and Louis were standing quite close to them with a wooden sword each. They were all wearing heavy clothing to protect them from splinters from the swords and to try and dull the hits. They had skipped the armors so Harry could really focus on his technique without the restricting steel on his arms and back. There was a small chance that they would have been boiled to death if they’d tried to wear anything more than they currently were. Personally Louis felt like he was suffocating and burning alive at the same time. There was sweat running all over his body and his hair was plastered to his forehead under his helmet. He was uncomfortable, tired and felt like he was about to faint. They had been out here for over two hours and Louis was ready to strip off all his clothes and dive in the nearest lake. Unfortunately for him Liam was a monster when it came to training and he had completely corrupted Harry as well. Not that Louis was really complaining. When the battle started Harry would have trained and become good enough to beat anyone who dared to come near him. Louis only wished that Liam would let him rest in the cool shadow together with Niall and Zayn instead of standing here in the blazing sun. But apparently it wasn’t only Harry’s technique Liam wanted to work on. Liam wanted to make sure that Harry could defend himself when attacked by more than one person. Since Liam had deemed Louis the least likely to follow the knight’s unofficial fighting code he had to be the one fighting. Louis was kind of glad that Liam had taken over as Harry’s trainer even if it meant that he had to wear a million pounds of clothes on the warmest day of the year. At least it meant that he wasn’t responsible of how much Harry learned. And if something happened to Harry the king and the court might not blame him for it but Louis himself certainly would. He would never be able to live with himself if something happened to Harry, no matter if it was really his fault or not.

“Like this?” Harry swung his sword towards Louis once more this time with a more relaxed wrist. The difference was obvious. The hit was much harder and the force behind it traveled up Louis own arms. He had a much harder time holding his own sword steady. He took a small step back to keep his balance.

“Yeah exactly. Remember the shoulder next time and Louis won’t be able to stand still.” Liam nodded and lowered his helmet again. “Try it again and I’ll attack on your other side.”

Harry stepped back slightly and raised his sword. Louis couldn’t see his face because of the helmet covering his face but he was pretty sure that he had his concentrated face on. Louis prepared himself by raising his own sword slightly. He could see Liam circle Harry to stand to his left a step or two behind him. All three of them were still for a moment before Harry shot forward while swinging his sword and aiming for Louis’ middle. Louis could see that Harry lowered his shoulder this time and he could definitely feel it when their swords connected between them. Liam was right, the force which with Harry had hit him with forced Louis back. Louis quickly twisted his wrist and attacked Harry with a simple move that Harry had mastered minutes after first learning it. Harry defended himself easily and suddenly turned to face Liam. Louis hadn’t even noticed that Liam had come up behind them but Harry obviously had. He used a technique that Zayn had taught him a couple of days ago. The wooden swords clanked together loudly and Harry spun around in the middle of the circle that Liam and Louis created around him. They moved around each other like their fight was a choreographed dance ritual. It was kind of mesmerising and time flew while they all tried to find good angles to hit one another. It was a bit surprising how easily Harry divided his attention between them. He was always ready and it seemed like he could see through the back of his head. 

The fight ended with Louis on his back and Harry with a smug smile on his face. Liam was complimenting him and coming with constructive criticism at the same time. Harry helped him up and they all wandered over to Niall and Zayn who had water ready for them. 

Their routines had changed now. After a little bit over three weeks of nothing but sword fighting, Liam had decided that Harry was good enough to do other things than train all day long. And so Harry had started meeting up with all the king’s soldiers and officers and other people involved in the military. They discussed battle strategies. They talked about when the battle would take place and where. Harry also had lessons about proper court etiquette and diplomacy. He learned about the king who formed the kingdom and all the rest that followed him. He was practically never around anymore and Louis suffered from withdrawal. It was just a big change, going from seeing Harry every single day to just a few hours when he had the time. Somehow it had made his crush worsen and now Harry was basically the only thing on his mind. It was driving him mad. 

For once the five of them were all gathered in the same room at the same time, a rare thing these days. With Harry always gone and no one to train, Liam and Zayn had started to spend time alone. They took walks on the castle grounds and in the villages close by and went flying with Fulki on day long trips. Louis was pretty sure they were all just waiting to hear that Liam and Zayn had made their relationship official. The happiness Louis felt for his friends was outweighing the jealousy, but only by a small margin. He wanted happiness and love as well! 

Today they were talking about each of their parts in the battle. The enemy's army was only a day away from the planned battlefield according to reports to the king and so the final battle strategies needed to be planned. The plan they were discussing now was for Louis, Niall and Zayn to be in the battle, fighting the enemy’s dragons while the king’s other two dragons stayed by the castle in case something went wrong. The only problem with the plan was that none of the three of them had ever been in an actual battle and therefore weren’t sure how to actually fight against other dragons. Louis wasn’t sure who suggested that Liam should fly with Zayn and lead them, but that didn’t matter. He was going to shoot it down regardless. 

“I don’t actually think this is a good idea.” The others continued to talk and completely ignored Louis. “Seriously guys! This plan sucks, it’s not safe and we should come up with a new one.” The only indication that they had heard him was the slight raise of their voices. Louis blood was boiling with rage. How could anyone think this was a good plan? And why did all four of them ignore him and his suggestions? As soon as they’d begun to discuss all of them had acted as if Louis wasn’t there. Sure Zayn, and maybe Liam, had more experience and knowledge than him when it came to warfare but he wasn’t useless! He definitely knew more than Harry. Just because Harry now knew how to swing a sword and was quite good at it didn’t automatically mean that he suddenly possessed lots of military experience. It didn’t matter that he had spent the last couple of days doing nothing but talk to militaries. Fear and dread were swirling in his stomach and all he could think about was Harry on the ground by himself with no one there to save him if he needed it. 

The others didn’t care what he had to say. They continued to ignore him and then Harry left to tell some officer about the plan. He didn’t come back and eventually Liam went back to his room. It was late and Niall and Zayn started to prepare to go to bed in silence. Louis was still sitting by the table while his brain made up one horrible scenario after the other, all which ended with Harry lying dead on the ground. Louis couldn’t remember falling asleep but he woke up when the sun was barely shining in through the windows. Zayn was gently shaking his shoulder and saying his name. Niall was already dressed in his armour and ready to go.

“It’s going to be fine. We’ll all meet up tonight and celebrate.” Niall’s cheerful expression didn’t fit well with his armour, but at least he was trying. Louis couldn’t help but feel like something horrible was going to happen. 

It was raining. Of course it was. The universe really wanted to make sure that no one had a more miserable life than Louis. Not only did the rain make him wet and cold it would also mean that his eyes would be useless. Then there was the added bonus of having to strap himself to Zafar to make sure that he didn’t slip off. As the cherry on top the rain would make it nearly impossible for Louis to make sure that Harry was okay. He could deal without his eyes, it was easier to use Zafar’s, and he could definitely deal with being strapped in because then he could focus solely on his enemies. What he couldn’t deal with was the fact that Harry would be down there on the battlefield without anyone to protect him. Sure he was good with the sword, it was hard to believe that he hadn’t trained with one since he was able to walk, and his skill with a bow and arrow was mesmerising to watch but the truth was that he’d never had to fight against someone for real. He had never actually had to end another person’s life. He had never seen the fear and the way life slowly disappeared from someone’s eyes. If Louis had had his way, then Harry wouldn’t have ever had to see it. He could have been blissfully unaware of the horrors of a battlefield and at the same time been safe. That’s all Louis really wanted, for Harry to be safe back in the castle and as far away from death and blood as possible. Since life hated him with a passion nearly as strong as Louis’ love for Harry, Harry was the farthest thing from safe. Right now he was standing in the rain several hundreds of feet below Louis himself, in front of his father’s army facing the biggest battle of modern time. Louis felt useless. He knew what he had to do, knew that it would distract him until they had won but he had no idea if Harry would be alive when he and Zafar touched the ground again. Of course he couldn’t know for sure that they would win, but Louis would rather die than let these northerners change the castle’s banner for their own. Mostly because of the fact that if Harry somehow managed to survive the battle there was no way that the enemy leaders would let him get away alive. After his and Harry’s first practise with the swords, Louis had sworn to protect him at all costs. He intended to keep that promise even though no one but himself knew about it. Harry had to be safe! He had to live and take over after his father and continue to spread his kindness and love to everyone he met. The only reason for his death Louis would accept was of old age after a long life. 

Louis made himself a promise, up there in the clouds. If he survived this, (if Harry survived this), he would tell him how he felt. He would confess his feelings and tell him that he loved him. It felt strangely relieving. It was only one way Louis allowed this day to end and then the person he loved would know that too. It didn’t really matter if he felt the same way, (it did), at least he would know. And Louis didn’t have to wonder what it would be like. And maybe he would get to hear that he was loved too.

The rain bothered Liam. It made it harder to see and easier to fall. He himself didn’t really have any balance problems anymore. After being on a ship for over two months and having to fight two or three times in that time, balance wasn’t something that he worried about anymore. He mostly worried about Harry to be honest. He was a good fighter, really good even, but he’d never been in a situation like this before. Liam had hoped that there wouldn’t be any rain because then Harry’s chances of surviving were quite high.

It didn’t sit right with him to be up here in the air while Harry was by himself on the ground. But there was no faulting Harry’s logic. To leave two dragon riders by the castle, the two most experienced, and then leave Louis, Niall and Zayn at the front lines without anyone to lead them seemed wrong. It was smart to leave two dragons behind, the chances of the king dying lessened. The problem was that neither Louis, Niall or Zayn had been in a real battle. Liam had and therefore Harry suggested that he fly with them to lead, especially since he could talk to the dragons. 

Plus Liam could make sure that Zayn stayed safe. Not that he didn’t want Niall, Louis and Harry to be safe, because of course he wanted that. They were his friends, the closest thing to a family he had had since he left his real one. It was just something about Zayn. It wasn’t even the fact that Liam was incredibly attracted to him. Well, not the biggest factor at least. Something about Zayn made him feel safe and like he was where he was supposed to be. That restlessness that had always been a part of Liam felt settled when he was around Zayn. Liam had never felt anything like it and now he was kind of addicted. 

The restlessness was the thing always making him leave places when he had stayed there for a while. Not only was this the first time he had stopped feeling like there was an itch under his skin after a couple of weeks, this was also the first time he had really liked the place where he was and the people around him. Niall was hilarious and easy going, Harry ridiculous and always up for anything, extremely unlike any prince Liam had ever heard of and Louis was the kind of crazy that was just on the right side of insane. He wasn’t as open as the others but he was fiercely loyal and incredible with a sword. In fact, they all were. 

Niall and Zayn were on the more traditional side but still extremely good. Liam had picked up on many things from watching Zayn teaching Harry. Harry was a natural with a sword in hand. It seemed like he had never done anything other than swinging a sword around and beheading imaginary enemies. Louis was the smallest out of all of them, but he was fast and quick with his hits. he reminded Liam of a cobra, calculating his every move to cause the most damage. Sitting on their dragons neither Niall, Louis or Zayn really needed their skills with the swords but rather good eyes so they could direct their dragons fire towards their enemies instead of their own army. 

Harry had somehow managed to bond with several of his father’s soldiers and higher ranked officers. They had almost never seen him lately as he was holed up daily with officers to plan battle strategies and meet his future soldiers. He would make a good king, Liam was sure of it. Just like he was a natural fighter his charm and easy smile made him easily likeable. He also had a smart head and wise people around him plus an ability to seek out the good persons from the bad. 

The rain started to come down even more heavily and Liam could hear Louis sigh even from where he was sitting on Fulki’s back behind Zayn nearly a hundred feet from Louis and Zafar. Liam knew Louis was worried. He hadn’t liked the plan where Harry stayed on the ground by himself at all. In fact he had hated it and then refused to share any of his thoughts after they had voted for Harry’s plan. To be honest Liam wasn’t really fond of it either. But as he had said to Louis several times, it was the best they had. Plus while Harry wouldn’t have one of his friends with him, he would have most of the king’s army around him. The realm’s best and finest soldiers would be fighting beside him and every single one of them knew not to let Harry get killed. As long as none of the enemies dragons got past Zafar, Sita and Fulki Harry would be absolutely fine. All Liam and the other three had to do was make sure that no dragon would leave the battle with a living rider one their back. 

Adrenaline was flowing through Liam’s veins. Sweat was running down his back and forehead. The rain and sweat got in his eyes and made it hard to see. Down on the ground the people looked like ants running around. The rain made it hard to make out who were friends and who were enemies. Luckily the dragon's eyes were much better than his own. 

It had been pretty easy to eliminate the first of four dragons that had come for them. Zafar, Fulki and Sita obviously knew how to handle these kind of situations even if their riders didn’t. Liam almost wished that he had listened to Louis and stayed on the ground with Harry. From what he had gathered from Zafar’s and Louis’ shared mind so far though, it didn’t seem like Harry needed any help. He was capable to handle anything anyone down on the ground threw at him. Liam was proud of himself. He had, nearly, single handedly taught Harry how to fight. He had clearly done a good job of it too. After all of this was over he might consider having that as his job, teaching young soldiers how to use a sword. It sounded nice, staying here with Zayn and the other three being useful and always having a bed to sleep in. For that to be reality though this last dragon needed to die. Or at least his rider needed to die. The chances of the dragon wanting to continue to fight after their rider was dead was minimal. 

Dragons were incredibly selfish creatures and putting themselves in dangerous situations just because wasn’t like them. They weren’t the ones to swear faithfulness to kings and queens either, that was all down to their riders. The only reason a dragon would stay and fight would be if they wanted revenge on the one who killed their rider. 

“Niall and Sita, you fly and make sure you’re behind that dragon while the rest of us attack head on.” Niall’s loud cackle could be heard as he and Sita rose above the low hanging clouds. It wasn’t very subtle but luckily enough both the rider and her dragon were completely focused on Zafar and Louis. A bit foolish. It didn’t matter that he was the biggest dragon of the three of them, Sita could do just as much harm as Zafar could. 

Liam counted down from five but before he had reached one both Fulki and Zafar had shot forward with their mouths open and fire coming out of them. It really was best for Liam to be up here and not on the ground. He was the only one who could talk to all three of the dragons and he could therefore coordinate their attacks without having to use some sort of flag system like the one their enemies had been using. That system had made it easy to take down dragon number two and three. 

Liam really loved to fight. The feeling of adrenaline flowing through him and the rush of endorphins made it so much better than being drunk. The only thing that even came close to feeling as good and exhilarating was sex. Nothing else even came close, nothing! 

Killing this rider was as easy as killing the other three. Just like Liam had thought the dragon quickly flew higher and disappeared over the clouds. Soon after the dragons that had been waiting by the enemy leaders tent flew back the way they’d come, presumably with the leaders on their backs. Liam could tell that Louis wanted to go after them, and honestly so did he. Just as he was about to order them to follow the fleeing dragons, the dragon whose rider they’d just killed came diving straight down towards Fulki. Time slowed down as Fulki quickly rolled to avoid the murderous dragon. Somehow Zayn’s restraints weren’t secured anymore. Liam tried to catch him and managed to grab his left arm. As Fulki desperately tried to avoid the attacking dragon by diving towards the ground Liam had a hard time keeping hold of Zayn. Just as Fulki changed course Zayn’s arm slipped through Liam’s fingers. Liam could do nothing but stare as Zayn plummeted towards the ground. 

“Zayn? Zayn! Are you okay?” Liam ran as fast as he could the last bit. Zayn was lying completely still with his right arm in an unnatural position. He didn’t answer and with all of his armor on Liam couldn’t see if he was breathing or not. Liam fell to his knees next to the unconscious Zayn. Close up Liam could see blood in his hair. It made him want to throw up and kick himself for letting Zayn fall. He could feel Fulki hovering behind him and trying to talk to him through her thoughts.

“Is he okay? Liam is he alive, what’s wrong with him? Is he breathing, do something!” 

“Back away Liam, let me see him.” The voice was low and steady and somewhere in the back of his mind Liam recognised it. It didn’t make him turn around or stop trying to get Zayn’s armor off him, but it did stop him from turning around with his sword held high and trying to kill whoever had come near them.

“Liam you’re shaking. Stop that and let me help him. Then you can take him to the castle where he’ll be safe.” Gentle hands were stopping his own trembling ones. Finally looking up from Zayn’s face, Liam saw Harry kneeling beside him. He’d taken his helmet off and his curls were all over the place. His face had mud and blood and gore on it and his sword was more red than silver. he looked like a warrior and he looked like a king.

“If you help him I swear on my life that I’ll serve you as long as I’ll live.” Liam’s voice shook and his whole body was shaking. He had never meant anything more than he did now.

“I don’t need all that drama Liam.” Harry chuckled lightly and pressed closer to Zayn. He quickly removed the armor from Zayn’s body and put him carefully on his back. His right arm was twisted wrong and it made Liam dizzy to look at it. Which was completely crazy. He had seen men with their stomach’s cut open and their brain’s halfway out of their head. He’d seen men missing an eye and with arm’s that weren’t really connected to their body. Then there was the fact that he on numerous occasions had made men look like that. An arm twisted the wrong way shouldn’t make him feel like he was about to pass out like some damsel in distress. Normally it wouldn’t bother him, but now, when it was Zayn’s arm that was wrong… It made him sick, the thought that he could lose him. That when he woke up tomorrow he wouldn’t get to see Zayn’s beautiful smiling face. The realisation hit him like a bolt of lightning. The reason the look of Zayn’s arm made him want to puke his guts out, was because he was in love with him. Liam loved him, with all his heart and soul. All his feelings made sense now and all of their moments together came in new light. Suddenly his memories were even more focused on Zayn than they’d been a couple of minutes ago and his worry for him had increased tenfold.

“Is he okay?” Liam had meant for it to come out strong and collected, but instead it came out as a scared whisper.

“I think so yeah. Someone needs to take a proper look at his arm, but he’s breathing and doesn’t bleed anywhere. You can take him to the castle and find someone to help him. Hurry up and me and the others will met you there.” Harry smiled quickly and disappeared as suddenly as he’d appeared. Liam carefully lifted up Zayn and with much help from Fulki managed to get both himself and Zayn seated on the red dragon’s back. 

“I’ll never leave you again. Nothing like this will ever happen to you again as long as I breath, okay? You hear me Zayn? Nothing will ever harm you again, I swear it. I’ll always protect you from now on.” Liam cradled Zayn close in his arms while Fulki flew them back towards the castle. Liam could tell how careful Fulki truly was and how worried. Usually when he and Zayn flew the ride was quite bumpy and they both had to keep a tight hold on each other. Now everything was smooth. Liam was thankful and sent many loving and comforting thoughts to Fulki. 

“I love you, you know?” It wasn’t the smartest move to whisper. Even if Zayn had been fully awake, there was no way that he would’ve heard what Liam just said. Even though Fulki was flying with utmost care, the wind was still strong around them. Talking while flying was in general nearly impossible, even if you sat close and shouted in each other's ears. The chance of Zayn actually hearing Liam confessing his feelings were none. Still, it didn’t feel like a thing you shouted. Especially not the first time you ever said it. Plus Zayn was unconscious, he wouldn’t have heard him even if Liam shouted it from the tops of his lungs. It still felt important to say, even though Zayn couldn’t hear him. Liam didn’t exactly plan on stop saying it now that he’d done it once, but it sort of eased the pressure for Liam a bit. He had said it and the world didn’t go under, so surely it wouldn’t the next time either when Zayn would be awake.

“I love you so much and you are never allowed to leave me. Do you understand?” Liam continued to whisper, because it felt safe and like the outside world didn’t exist.

When they arrived at the castle some of the stable boys helped them down from Fulki’s back. They also showed Liam where the castle’s own medic lived. The medic was an old man with no hair on his head and a long silver beard. His eyebrows were big and bushy and his eyes were a stony grey. There were wrinkles all over his face and he looked old enough to have lived from the beginning of time. The only thing about him that didn’t look old or fragile was his eyes.

“How can I help you sir?” He asked and stood up from his seat by the fire in the middle of his spacious room. His voice was thin and high and Liam struggled a bit with hearing what he said.

“You need to help Zayn.” To Liam it seemed fairly obvious what he needed help with but maybe the medic’s eyes weren’t as good as they looked. The old man indicated for Liam to lay Zayn down on a small bed near the only window in the room. Zayn’s eyelashes blinked slightly while Liam lowered him down on the bed and Liam gasped. The medic pushed him away with a firm hand to his lower chest, which was as high as the old man could reach.

The next few minutes Liam spent pacing restlessly outside the medic’s door. For some reason that Liam hadn’t really listened to, the medic wanted to be alone while he examined Zayn. Thoughts of Zayn mixed with memories of when he fell made Liam’s head want to explode. His body was burning up with his love for the person lying inside the room and if he couldn’t speak to him soon he would go crazy. Just after Liam had started his fiftieth lap down the corridor the door opened and the small man came out. Liam hurried back to him and eagerly waited for him to start speaking.

“Your friend is alright. His arm is hurt but I’ve fixed it as much as possible for him. He’ll need to be gentle with it while it heals.”

“Can I see him?” Liam didn’t actually care about the answer but he didn’t really fancy having to push away a man who looked like a gust of wind could send him flying towards the moon.

“He’s asking for you.” The medic’s smile showed that he missed a few teeth but that the one’s he still got were white and healthy looking. Liam rushed into the room and then awkwardly stopped in the middle. He could easily see Zayn from here and how his arm and head were wrapped in greying cloth. When he heard Liam’s steps on the creaky wooden floor he slowly tried to sit up. He had a little problem adjusting to the fact that only one of his arms were able to push him upright.

“Come here Liam.” Zayn asked lowly. His voice was hoarse, like he’d been screaming from the tops of his lungs for awhile. Liam shuddered as imagines of why flooded his head. Liam slowly crept forward while his eyes raked over Zayn’s face. Apart from a small bruise over his left cheekbone he looked like normal. Well and apart from the cloth tightly wrapped around his head. A small part of the cloth over his temple were stained red. When Liam had reached the side of the bed he hunched down so he could be face to face with Zayn. Zayn slowly lifted his good arm and lightly traced his fingers over Liam’s face. Liam imagined it looked similar to Harry’s with dirt and a tiny bit of blood mixed around.

“I love you.” Liam croaked out and watched as surprise filled Zayn’s eyes. “I was stupid for not realising it before you nearly died on me, but I do and I’m never letting you out of my sight again!” The surprise in Zayn’s eyes slowly morphed into an unbearably fond expression and Liam pressed his face into Zayn’s hand.

“I love you too.” His smile in that moment could outshine the sun. It made Liam breathless and felt like a hard punch to the gut. For a moment they just sat there staring into eachothers eyes while their words floated around them silently in the air. A gentle knock on the door broke them out of their bubble and reality suddenly came back.

“You need to let Fulki know you’re okay. She was really worried about you.” Liam reached one of his own hands up to entwine it with Zayn’s. Zayn smiled softly down at their joined hands and closed his eyes. Reaching up with his other hand too, Liam started to trace slow circles on the back of Zayn’s hand while he watched him silently have a conversation with his dragon.

It was impossible to get Harry alone. Everyone wanted to talk to him, all the time. Louis wasn’t important enough to intervene in the conversations and ask for a minute alone either, so all he could do was wait. It would be easiest to catch him by himself after he had went to bed, so that was what Louis decided to do. In the meantime, he went to check up on Zayn. It had been incredibly frightening to see him fall. Louis had already started crying and mourning when he heard that Zayn was still alive. He’d heard it from Zafar who had seen Fulki flying back towards the castle with both Liam and Zayn in a hurry. Niall and him had also went back, quickly going to the medic. He had told them to wait a bit and let Liam and Zayn be by themselves. They had went to the banquet that the castle staff had managed to swing together to get something to eat. Niall had taken food back to Liam and Zayn while Louis had tried fruitlessly to talk to Harry. 

“Are you okay?” Zayn looked a bit pale and tired where he was sitting up in bed with a plate of food in front of him. Liam was helping him eat since Zayn only had one arm he could use.

“Yeah I’m fine.” Even though he looked tired there was no mistaking the joy and glee in his eyes. He and Liam had apparently had a heart to heart and declared their love towards each other, Niall had been quick to reveal when Louis had walked in. They sat there in companionable silence while Liam and Zayn continued to eat. Louis only hoped that he would be lucky enough to get the same end result tonight when went to see Harry.

Louis didn’t mean to eavesdrop but what else could he do when he heard the king’s voice from inside Harry’s room? He couldn’t walk in, he wasn’t important enough to bother the king or the prince, and he couldn’t walk away either. The risk of someone in the room hearing him was high and he didn’t want to have to explain to the king why he had come to his son’s room this late at night. Then there was the fact that Louis wasn’t sure he could work up the nerve to come and tell Harry about his feelings one more time. Whatever happened inside that room, Louis wasn’t leaving until Harry knew how he felt. The thick door to Harry’s bedroom was open halfway and there was light coming from inside. Louis sneaked as close as he could. He could only hear two voices which was good, the fewer people he would have to try and lie to the better. Despite the short distance Louis had a bit of trouble with hearing what the king and Harry said. After listening breathlessly for a few minutes Louis had gathered that they were discussing the battle. The king was asking questions about the enemies and how certain soldiers of his own had performed. It sounded like he was slightly disappointed that they hadn’t managed to catch any of the enemy's front figures. They had been whisked away by their dragons as soon as it was clear that they wouldn’t win. Not that they had even taken part in the actual battle themselves. They had been sat in a tent a safe distance away with two dragons and some soldiers protecting them. Louis had been tempted to fly over to them but Zafar hadn’t liked the odds and Louis didn’t want to leave Niall, Zayn and Liam by themselves. Even more importantly he hadn’t wanted to leave Harry by himself. 

Harry was answering the king’s questions to the best of his ability but it was clear that he was unsure who they were talking about at times and that he didn’t want to speak badly of anyone. Warmth flooded through Louis’ veins and his lips quirked up in a smile. Suddenly it became quiet and Louis stopped breathing. Had they heard him? It didn’t seem like it as no one came and opened the door. Instead it sounded like someone sat down. There was some shuffling around and it sounded like something was poured. It was quiet again for a moment and then the king spoke. 

“You’ve proved yourself worthy of being the prince today, son.” It sounded a bit ominus. “I know some of my men doubted you and your abilities but I’m sure most of them have changed their minds by now. I haven’t known you long and obviously you’ll need training and wise men around you, but I think you’ll manage just fine.”

“Manage what father?” Harry sounded young and a bit lost. Louis could relate. He had no idea where the king was going with this.

“I want you to become king.” Something fell and crashed onto the floor and Louis could only gape. His mind went blank. Harry, as king? It shouldn’t come as a surprise, after all Harry was the king’s only heir. What was surprising was the fact that the king sounded like he meant that it would happen now instead of when he died. Maybe it had something to do with the few people that the king said were doubting Harry’s abilities? Maybe he just wanted to make sure that it was really Harry who became king after him and not someone else. And maybe he wanted to be around to help Harry out until he got the hang of court life and what it truly meant to be king. Louis hadn’t realised that he was crying until he felt something wet on the back of his hand. The microscopic chance of Harry and him ever being together, even in secret, had just disappeared. If Harry became king one of the first things he would have to do was to find a bride and get himself an heir to make it harder for conspiring knights to take over the throne. 

The only role Louis had in Harry’s future was as his dragonrider. He couldn’t even be his friend if the court had things their way. If Louis knew Harry at all, he was quite sure that that wouldn’t happen. Harry was far too stubborn for his own good and he had no respect for the proper court rules. It was one of Louis favourite things about him. While Louis had spaced out the king and Harry had continued to talk. Harry still sounded shocked and slightly dazed. Apparently Harry had agreed to become king because they were now discussing when the coronation would take place. It seemed like Harry wanted to have his mom and Alice present. It was sweet. Louis continued to listen until his legs started to cramp a little. Finally he could hear the king standing up and wishing Harry a good night. Louis quickly and quietly moved backwards until he was standing in the corner between the door and the wall. Hopefully the king wouldn’t notice him when the door opened and then he and Harry could be alone and talk. 

Louis was pretty sure Harry shared his feelings. The boy wasn’t subtle with his looks and glances at all. If this was the only time they could ever be together and discuss their feelings towards each other Louis would take it. Maybe he could get one kiss. One kiss that would have to last a lifetime. Louis had never been in love before but he was pretty sure that he wouldn’t find it again. Harry was it for him. He would stay here, as close to Harry as he could, even if he married someone else and had children with her. He would stay and he would continue to love Harry even if Harry stopped loving him. He would stay as long as Harry allowed him to. And whatever happened he would never ever stop loving Harry.

The king said his final goodbyes and slowly walked out of the room. He didn’t notice Louis hiding behind the door and instead continued to walk to the door of Harry’s chambers. After the door had closed behind him Louis took a moment to just breathe and then tiptoed his way into Harry’s bedroom. Harry was lying on his bed but immediately jumped to attention when he heard the soft click of the door closing. He relaxed instantly once he recognised Louis and sat down on his bed once more. 

“What are you doing here Lou? It’s late.” He said and patted the bed as a sign for Louis to join him. Once Louis was sitting down next to him Harry turned and focused his whole attention on him.

“I heard what you and your father talked about.” Before Harry could say anything Louis rushed to continue. “That has nothing to do with me telling you this. Or, it kind of does just… not really.” Louis paused to breathe and to collect his thoughts. He should really stop rambling. “I’m sort of in love with you. Not sort of, I am. In love with you and I just… think you should know that.” Louis didn’t dare to look at him after his confession. For all that he thought Harry felt the same he didn’t actually know. He was terrified, more so than he’d ever been during the battle or any other point in his life. When he couldn’t stand the silence any longer and dared to sneak a glance at Harry’s face he was nearly blinded by his smile. The sheer happiness of it stole all the air in his lungs.

“Do you really?” Harry asked. Louis didn’t trust his voice so he just nodded in response. If it was possible Harry’s smile got even brighter. “I love you too.” To hear those words felt like what Louis imagined getting hit by lightning felt like. He stared in awe at this amazing person who had just told him he loved him. There could be no better feeling than this. This was without doubt the best moment of Louis life. When Harry leaned closer and brought their mouths together in a featherlight kiss, Louis changed his mind about which moment was the best moment of his life. This was it, 100 percent.

The wait while the throne room slowly filled up was unbearable. People in beautiful and expensive clothes wandered in and made the room look like a rainbow. Louis was standing in the far right corner with Niall and Zayn beside him. He was tapping his foot impatiently with his eyes trained on the doors. Somewhere in the room Liam was standing and keeping an eye on Harry’s mom and Alice. And somewhere in the castle Harry was getting dressed. Louis hadn’t been able to see him at all and it was getting on his nerves. He hadn’t been able to sleep more than a few hours the previous night and his eyelids threatened to close every few seconds. He was scared and nervous and his future seemed very uncertain. Zayn put his hand on Louis’ elbow and dragged his attention away from the door and towards his best friend. Zayn smiled at him and released him. There was a small mark at the juncture between neck and shoulder on the left side of Zayn’s neck and there was something very content in his eyes as well as an almost liquid quality to all his movements. Jealously curled in Louis’ stomach along with happiness. At least Zayn got to have the man of his dreams even though Louis himself only got one perfect kiss.

“Hey calm down mate. Everything will be fine, okay? You’ll get your happy ending as well.” Zayn’s smile got bigger and he reached up his arms to hug Louis tightly. “You’ll see. Harry is even more stubborn than you. He’ll find a way to make it work.”

The doors to the room opened with a small bang and every head turned towards it. First came some important looking men that Louis vaguely recognised from the battle. Then came some women in fancy dresses that Louis assumed were the wives of the men that had entered before them. After the women an old man with a white coat and a funny hat walked in holding a thick black book. Louis had no idea who he was, but he looked a bit ridiculous and had an almost angry scowl on his face. The last people to enter the room was the king with the king to be by his side. Harry looked stunning. His hair was cascading down around his face and touched the red mantle he had around his shoulders. Under the mantle he was wearing a white shirt in a sheer material and tight fitting pants. His boots were new as was the golden chain he had hanging around his neck. For the first time since Louis had known him, Harry looked every bit like the prince he truly was. Louis vision was starting to go a little swimmy and after a hard nudge in the kidneys from Niall Louis remembered to take in a gasping breath of air. Who needed air anyway when they had Harry Styles?

The coronation in itself was boring. Harry and the king were sitting in front of the throne while the man in the funny looking hat were droning on and on about something Louis had stopped listening to as soon as he started talking. Instead he was staring unabashedly at Harry throughout the ceremony. Harry’s eyes were scanning the room, probably trying to find his mother and Alice. From where Louis was standing he couldn’t tell if he found them or not. Louis had no idea himself where exactly they were in the large room. 

At last the man in the front stopped talking and Harry walked forward. The man closed his book and Harry put his left hand on the book looked out over his completely silent audience. When he spoke his voice was loud and clear and reached everyone standing in the room. Louis couldn’t take his eyes off of him and concentrated more on the actual sound of Harry’s voice instead of his words. Then suddenly Harry was down on one knee in front of his father. The king was holding a sword that he slowly lowered to Harry’s left then right shoulder while he spoke.

“I hereby dub you, Harry Styles, to King Harry the first of his name.” The king’s voice wasn’t as strong as his son’s but it was just as clear. He stepped back while the man in the white clothes and big hat slowly lowered a shining crown down on Harry’s head. As Harry stood up and turned around to the cheers from the audience, the king fell to the floor. Everyone was standing still in complete silence for a moment before total chaos broke out. 

Louis found Harry crying in his room two hours later. That Harry wasn’t a pretty crier became clear quickly. His eyes were bloodshot and there was snot running from his nose. His hair was disheveled and the crown was gone. He was still wearing the rest of his coronation outfit. Even though he was far from the controlled and regal king he’d been just hours ago, he was still the most breathtaking thing Louis had ever seen. He looked up when he heard Louis enter his bedroom.

“How are you love?” He asked gently and moved towards where Harry was sat on his bed. Tears were slowly trickling down Harry’s cheeks and his lips trembled slightly.

“Did you know that he died because of me?” Harry’s voice was quiet and hoarse. The light in his eyes was nearly gone. He looked defeated and sad. Louis shook his head but didn’t say anything as he sat down next to the new king. Louis figured it was best to let Harry talk about it. Besides, he was curious. 

The death of the king was all anyone in the castle talked about. Rumors was flying left and right, some more absurd than others. Louis placed his arm around Harry’s shoulders and moved a bit closer towards him. Harry sighed and rested his head on Louis shoulder. Slowly he started to tell Louis about a prophecy that Alice had had when Harry’s mom found out that she was pregnant. According to Harry she had seen that the king would die if Harry ever took over the crown. In an attempt to save the king, Harry’s mom had fled the castle and not told the king she was pregnant. 

“Why did Alice send that letter to the king then? If your mom didn’t want the king to die?” Louis asked and gently stroked Harry’s back. He had stopped crying but his eyes were still puffy and red.

“He wasn’t gonna live long. You know how sick he’s been. Alice wanted me to meet him and get to know him. She tried to talk about it with mom but she didn’t want to listen. I think she was afraid of losing me as well as him.” Harry’s voice was low and sounded sad.

“You told her to come live here didn’t you? She and Alice can help you with all the decisions since they probably know what’s best for the people. Right?” Louis had never been any good at being comforting but at least he tried. Harry nodded. 

“You’ll help me too, right?” He sounded unsure.

“You know we can’t be together, don’t you? You’re king now and you need a wife and an heir. They’ll never let us be together.” Louis could feel tears well up in his eyes. His shirt turned damp when Harry turned his own teary eyes down in it. 

“We’ll figure something out. It won’t be really good but it’ll work. Right? You want that as well?” Harry had sat up properly and was staring hard at Louis. Tears were running down his face and he didn’t look royal in the slightest. He was utterly beautiful.

“Of course I do. We’ll figure something out.” They looked at each other for a while. Their kiss meant everything.

THE END   
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End file.
